4 ms·
The existence of a left hand tail is not evidence that a distribution is skewed. Americans may be answering not based on knowledge, but on belief. As shown abo
by 001sky 13y ago
The existence of a left hand tail is not evidence that a distribution is skewed.
Americans may be answering not based on knowledge, but on belief. As shown above, only 48 percent of Americans responded "true" to the statement "Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals." But if the question was reframed slightly, far more people responded with "true." Given the statement "according to the theory of evolution, human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals," 72 percent answered "true." (Emphasis mine.) A similar pattern happens with the Big Bang question. When the statement is simply "The universe began with a huge explosion," 39 percent responded "true." When it is "according to astronomers, the universe began with a huge explosion," 60 percent said "true." This seems to indicate that many Americans are familiar with the theories of evolution and the Big Bang; they simply don't believe they're true.
To wit, people don't believe everything they read.
- nmc 13y agoYes, they do. Just looks like The Bible is more trustworthy than On the Origin of Species.
- 001sky 13y agoIt demonstrates a huge lack of judgement to assume you understand how other people think from telephone survey. http://www.gallup.com/poll/147824/adults-estimate-americans-gay-lesbian.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/147824/adults-estimate-americans-... http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/who-responds-to-telephone-polls-anymore-20120719 http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/who-responds-to-tele... http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/01/young-pranksters-skewed-landmark-sexuality-study http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/01/young-pranksters... TLDR: It's not unknown for people to answer these things like Bart Simpson, and sniggering in the background.
- nmc 13y agoDisclaimer: That comment was a joke. I do not pretend to understand anyone's way of thinking. Thank you for clarifying.